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Ukraine runner Lupu to miss world indoors over meldonium

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) Former European indoor 800-meter champion Nataliya Lupu of Ukraine will miss this week's world indoor championships in Portland over her use of meldonium, the same substance which led to tennis star Maria Sharapova's positive test at the Australian Open.

The Ukrainian track and field federation says Lupu withdrew from the championships, which begin Thursday, after the World Anti-Doping Agency ''raised concerns about the use of meldonium.''

It was not immediately clear if Lupu, who won European indoor gold in 2013 and world indoor silver the year before, had been suspended from competition.

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In a statement on the federation website, Lupu says she had used meldonium for 15 years for medical reasons with doctors' prescriptions. She says she stopped taking the drug in November, two months before it was officially banned.